Agreed, but Desmond was definitely positive that he missed inputting them once, and it so happened to coincide to the date/time the plane came down. I know it is Lost, but that would be a big coincidence.

Since the end of last season I've theorized that the island is contained within some sort of electro-magnetic field which would explain Michael and Walt on the boat would have to follow a specific path to get out since electro-magnetic fields would have very specific weak points. Also it would explain Desmond's inability to leave since he wouldn't be able to exit unless he found the weak point. I also thought that it would be neat if the real world outside was concurrent with our time, meaning it's 2006, but the island within the field is running a lot slower in time, thus only having 60 days or whatever passed at this point. A few months after thinking this, I remember reading one of the producers mentioned that time on the island wasn't necessarily passing at the same rate as outside which seems to support my theory.

Are you suggesting that there's some sort of force field or barrier at the edge of the magnetic field? I haven't heard of a magnetic field working that way, and Desmond doesn't make any mention of being unable to go foward, just that he can't navigate away.

I though the compass bearing given to Michael was because of one or both of two factors:

1) The specific bearing given would lead them to a populated area or one that civilization would spot them.

2) The specific bearing compensates for the magnetic field of the island, so they go straight instead of in circles.

If that were true though, wouldn't the days be longer? The Sun and the Earth's rotation are outside the island's field, so if time ran slower in the field, so would the cycle of daylight.

Could very well be. We don't know how long they're days are lasting (only a one hour show) and besides the button I don't believe they have any concept of time besides the sun.

Maybe a little farfetched, I like it. I'd be suprised if nobody on that plane didn't have a water-proof watch.

In the premeire episode, Jack tells the pilot that 16 hours have elapsed since the plane crash when they find him.

Also, when Sayid, Kate and Boone/Shannon set up the antennas to triangulate the Frenchwoman's transmission, they arrange to turn all the antennas on at 5:00pm. Sayid and Kate are shown looking at their watches.

Also, Desmond is a problem in the theory as well, since he met Jack outside the island and they got there separately at different times, yet Desmond's timeline seems to match up. Plus the date on the computer for the hatch's first system failure lined up exactly with the actual date of the plane crash.